The Messenger
by Xenos Kadmia
Summary: Sometimes a small misinterpretation can ruin everything. Maybe Dearka wasn't Athrun's best choice to deliver a personal message to Cagalli. AthrunxCagalli
1. Chapter 1:Bluer than Hair

**The Messenger**

By: Xenos Kadmia

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam SEED, Gundam SEED Destiny or any of the characters mentioned in this story. I also do not own FedEx.

**Chapter 1: Bluer than Hair**

A moment of peace had befallen the factions, and Athrun Zala was in space, aboard the Archangel, restoring what the Second Bloody Valentine War had destroyed. Closer to home was Cagalli Yula Attha, princess of Orb, also doing her very darn best to restore broken homes, wrecked properties, and streets of her country.

These two star-crossed lovers were literally light-years apart. But, you know what they all say, distance makes the heart grow stronger. Pardon the cheesy, cliché-ness of it all.

However, in between duties, Athrun couldn't help but feel a little lonely.

"Hey, hey, hey, Athrun. Something around here is bluer than your hair," teased Dearka Elsman.

"Dearka, I've told you a million, kajillion times, my hair is purple. Get it right, please," Athrun said, not noticing the sarcasm in his friend's voice.

"Athrun, honey, that's not the point. _'Get it right, please,'"_ Dearka said, doing a falsetto imitation of Athrun.

Athrun couldn't help but smile. That falsetto was just too funny.

"Honestly, Athrun, you need a girlfriend. Or sideburns."

"Sideburns?"

"Missing the point, AGAIN. You need to go out more."

"Maybe…" Athrun said, zoned out more than ever.

"Maybe you're missing a certain Ca-ga-lli," Dearka said, emphasizing Cagalli's name.

At the mention of Cagalli, Athrun sat up.

"I knew it!" Dearka exclaimed, "you're just lonely."

"Yeah, I guess I am. When I think about it, I never went on a real date with her. I wish I could go out with her, no politics or any of that junk."

"That can be arranged."

"No, it can't. She's the _princess of Orb_. She's literally the busiest person on the face of the Earth."

"No, the busiest person on the face of the Earth is the FedEx guy. You try going to Russia, California and Iran all on the same day. And you see those little shorts they wear? Now, they've got it bad. Trust me, Cagalli's probably having her hair done right now."

The picture of Cagalli having her hair done made them laugh. The picture of Cagalli punching their lights out if she heard them laughing made them stop almost immediately.

"Listen, Athrun," Dearka said with all seriousness, "I've got a vacation coming up and if you want, I can drop off some flowers and an invitation for a date or something. I'm sure she can put off a meeting or two. Or three."

Athrun hesitated a little. It was odd to see Dearka so serious, but this could be a chance to see Cagalli in person, and not on the news or in an interview.

What the heck, he thought.

"Fine."

"Atta boy. I leave tomorrow, at 5pm Earth time. Make sure to have your stuff ready by then."

Then, Dearka got up and thumped Athrun in the back, just for kicks.

A/N: Hey, Xenos Kadmia here, back after a year's hiatus. My writing style might've changed, so some criticism (or praise) is appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2: An Unwanted Guest

The Messenger

By: Xenos Kadmia

Chapter 2: The Departure and The Arrival

Dearka stood on the civilian's docking bay. He would've taken his machine, it being much faster, plus private, but it would raise too much hell with customs and immigration. He decided he was better off sticking with "inconspicuous."

And what was inconspicuous without a woman to bid thee farewell?

"Your shuttle better come soon, Dearka, I'm tired of seeing your face," Miriallia snapped.

Oh well, Dearka thought, closest thing to heaven as he could get.

"A kiss for the road?" he asked.

"Nice try, hon, but there aren't any roads in space."

You couldn't blame the guy for trying.

"Dearka!"

Dearka turned and saw Athrun running toward him with a bouquet of flowers in hand. If you put it in slow-motion, you could almost imagine a cornfield and a sun setting in the distant horizon. It would be funny if it weren't so gay, Dearka thought.

He chuckled anyway.

"Athrun, I'm so touched," he said, putting a hand over his heart, "but you and me, it can never work."

Athrun looked at his blonde friend with a sort of WTF face.

"These are for Cagalli, you retard. And this too," he said while pulling out a little white envelope from his jacket pocket.

Dearka took the envelope, sniffed it then screamed.

"OMG! A BOMB!!"

Several bystanders turned to stare. Athrun blushed profusely and Dearka chuckled even more. Miriallia, who was a very intelligent woman, was already 10 meters away, in a magazine stand, pretending not to know who that screaming retard was.

"Just kidding, it's all good," Dearka said, addressing the general public.

Athrun sighed. "Can you do me one last favor, Dearka?"

"Sure thing, bud. Anything for a guy in desperate need of some lovin'."

Athrun ignored the last comment and continued, "There's a message in that envelope, if possible, can you read it out loud to her? It just makes it seem more like an ordinary conversation like that."

"If you request made more sense, I would be touched," Dearka said. But before Athrun could punch him, he hastily added "ButI'lldoitanyway.That'swhatfriendsarefor,right?"

The shuttle conductor blew his whistle, signaling that passengers had to board in five minutes.

"Okay, that's it then. It was a pleasure doing business with you, Athrun. Now, please get out of my face, I must say goodbye to my beloved," said Dearka.

"Alright, bye, Dearka, thanks again."

"No problem," Dearka said, then he gave Miriallia, who had returned, a kiss on the lips.

"Another one for the road?" Athrun heard his friend say.

"Keep dreaming, boy," Miriallia replied.

Dearka then boarded the crowded shuttle, passing mothers with little children, some elderly ladies, a group of rowdy teenagers and a guy in serious need of some deodorant. A bunch of weirdoes in every shuttle, Dearka thought. He headed to the least crowded compartment in the first-class section. Hey, it wasn't the Buster, but it was first-class, and they got real meals, not like those poor chaps in economy.

Except for the occasional presence of a waiter, Dearka was left to his lonesome, contemplating on the finer secrets of life, like how to split an atom and how to get Miriallia in a thong.

Two hours later, the shuttle finally landed in Orb.

A somewhat disheveled Dearka stumbled out of the shuttle, luggage in hand. I was crystal clear to anyone above the age of 5 that Dearka was not suited for travel in anything but a Gundam.

After hailing a taxi, Dearka gave directions to the Attha mansion, hoping that Cagalli had some cookies or something in that palace of hers. Hello, after all, what was a palace without Cheetos in 'em?

He knocked on the grand double doors that were big enough for even the Justice to climb through. Then he pressed the doorbell. A lot.

Inside, Cagalli was busy procrastinating when she heard the incessant doorbell that was apparently being pressed by some sort of epileptic.

"Somebody get the door," she said, which was her version of Pink Panther's famous "Ah, the doorbell."

"What's up, girlfriend?"

"Oh my goodness, Dearka, what are you doing here? Get out, NOW."

"Cagalli, honey, is that any way to treat a long lost friend?"

"No, but its how I deal with you."

"I come with good news, it's from Ath-run."

"Fine, I can deal with you for that long, give it here."

Dearka handed her the bouquet while Cagalli ordered the maid to prepare some coffee and biscuits for the guest.

"Okay, Dearka, you're here, what is it?"

"Demanding aren't you? Can't a tired traveler get any good grub around here without any demanding nit-picks breathing down his neck?"

Had this story been "manga-ifed," one might see Cagalli Yula Attha in one panel with demonish red eyes numerous veins on her forehead, and a random volcano in the background.

But, it's not, so there she was sitting as pretty as ever.

Nevertheless, she was hella close to getting out an AK-47 or something that can blow chunks of Dearka's brains out in two seconds flat.

"Your coffee and biscuits, ma'am," the maid said as she came in as serenely as she was trained, carrying a tray with two cups of coffee, condiments, and a three tier platter of biscuits, scones, and other pastries.

Maids, honestly, it could've been Bloody Valentine all over again, and she would still ask you if you wanted one sugar or two.

"Yum," was all Dearka could bring himself to say before he wolfed down everything edible, all manners forgotten.

"So, about Athrun's letter, Dearka, where is it?" Cagalli asked.

"Pffh, cha, aouut ha…" Dearka said. It may sound Russian but his mouth was full, and translated, he really said "Yeah, about that…"

"English, please, Dearka, I don't speak Weird and Perverted," Cagalli said, all sarcasm intended.

"Coming from you," Dearka said, swallowing, "that's an honor."

"Right, down to business," he continued, "Athrun said he wanted me to read the letter out loud to you."

"Why?" Cagalli interrupted.

Miffed, Dearka replied, "Because your boyfriend's a RETARD."

One look at Cagalli's face told Dearka that he better get to the letter fast, or his perfect schnoz would go two dimensional.

"Anyway," he said, clearing his throat, "here it goes. Dear, no, scratch that, Cagalli, it's been quite, or is that quit? Gosh, Cagalli, your boyfriend has terrible handwriting; you should sign him up for, like, calligraphy lessons or something."

"Letter," she demanded, then literally shoved his nose into the paper.

"Yes ma'am. It says…I just want you to know there is…someone else other than you in my life. I hope you understand that. Meyrin is taking care of me just fine, just so you know, so you don't have to worry about me. I hope you can meet me in front of April Café, for the last time. I'll miss you a lot, now that you're not in my life. Love, Athrun."

Cagalli just sat and gaped at Dearka's broken reading. All she could bring herself to do was to stare and stare at that paper. Dearka looked at her, also seeing the letter for the first time and watched her plan her first move.

But she just stared.

And stared.

And stared.

Dearka thought she would cry, but no, instead she got up, and snatched the letter from Dearka's hands. She read the letter for herself, and what Dearka read was, indeed, true. Athrun's handwriting was crap, yeah, but Cagalli would fix that.

When she was done with him, Athrun wouldn't even have a hand to write with.

Not a real one, anyway.


	3. Chapter 3: Joining Ends

The Messenger

By: Xenos Kadmia

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam SEED, Gundam SEED Destiny or any of the characters mentioned here. I also do not own Britney Spears. I do not own PDAs.

A/N: Sorry, this won't take long, I know how sometimes Author's Notes can be longer than the story. Just wanted to thank all my reviewers (however few they may be), and I am sincerely requesting any constructive criticism. I think I need it. NOW ON WITH THE STORY!!! Why are you still reading this?

Joining Both Ends (sort of)

Cagalli didn't know what to do. Athrun was being very confusing right now. Dearka was of absolutely no help, and in the midst of it all, there was still her standing duty as the leader of Orb.

Talk about stress.

Her date with Athurn was still on Saturday, and it was only Thursday. That gave her two days to make the excruciating decision that could more or less make or break the state of happiness that she would live with for the rest of her life.

Joy.

Cagalli sighed and sat down. She needed to talk to someone real bad. And she needed some darts and a picture of Yuna Roma Seiran.

She sat down and dialled Lacus's number. If she remembered correctly, Lacus was in the Equatorial Union helping orphans. When was Lacus never helping orphans, Cagalli wondered. When will she and Kira ever have kids of their own?

Then, when she remembered HOW people had babies, she shuddered and immediately banished the thought from her head.

Never mind.

She dialled the number.

"Hello?" The voice that was frequently on radio and television took some getting used to. Cagalli could barely believe that they were about to be sisters-in-law. It was like having Britney Spears as a cousin.

"Hello, Lacus," Cagalli greeted.

"Oh! Cagalli, how's everything going?"

For a moment, she wondered how Lacus was surprised that it was her calling. Didn't Lacus know about caller I.D.?

"Pretty good. Well, no, pretty bad."

"Oh? What's wrong? Is work getting you stressed?"

"No, I'm used to the work. It's just, you know, Athrun..." she couldn't bring herself to say it.

"Well, that's alright, I'm sure he misses you too. Just think about it, after we get everything settled, and repair most of the damage, everything'll be back to normal, you'll see."

Where did Lacus get all that fortune cookie crap? Cagalli could have sworn that she saw that in Chinese somewhere. It was nice for her to be optimistic, but still.

"No, it's not that. I just got a letter from Athrun, you see, and he said he was breaking up with me," Cagalli replied.

"That can't be true! Maybe you should talk to him, I know Athrun wouldn't do anything like that on purpose."

"But what if he was serious?"

"If he were serious, then everyone will be on him in three seconds flat. You can trust me, I know Athrun and he wouldn't do something like that. Besides, I used to be a ninja, so you can count on me to shred him to pieces."

Cagalli thought Lacus was joking, but on hindsight, Lacus never really was the type to kid around. Well, at least it explained the outfit.

In the background, Cagalli could hear the rising cries of babies.

"Oops, I have to go now," Lacus said, "call me anytime."

"Alright, Lacus, bye."

Cagalli hung up. Now she knew who to call when she got dumped. She wished Lacus had told her that when Yuna Roma was still around. If that were the case, then he would have gone to hell much sooner.

She smiled. It was ironic how the man she hated could bring her so much joy.

Saturday, the dreaded day. Before a date, ordinary women would worry about what to wear, the jewelry to go with the outfit, the makeup to match the jewelry to go with the outfit, the dog to match the makeup to match the jewelry…Ah, you get it.

But definitely not Cagalli Yula Attha. She had other things on her mind, such as how many bodyguards she had to bring, secret service (which was different and more stressful than bodyguards), her schedule, and junk mail. So, for a politically well-known global leader, it was perfectly okay to walk into a five-star restaurant in slacks and a t-shirt. Especially if you were Cagalli Yula Attha.

Athrun, who looked absolutely _bishounen_ in his tuxedo, was mildly amused when he saw Cagalli storming down the streets, secret service in tow. All the same, he looked at her and smiled sweetly. He had flowers in one hand, and chocolates in another. The chocolates were his backup in case Cagalli didn't like the flowers. Cagalli never really struck him as a flower person.

"Hey, Cagalli," Athrun said.

"Athrun," replied Cagalli, forcing hostility into her words. Or, at least trying to.

"I've got our table ready for us. Shall we?" he asked, and extended his hand, beckoning her inside.

Cagalli took it, and for a moment, she forgot why she was mad at him. Athrun had a way of doing that to people, which was probably why Cagalli fell in love with him in the first place.

A French waiter took their orders. Somehow, it was amazing how even in all the chaos, there were still genuine French waiters who cared more about what fork did what than what was happening in the world around them. French waiters were like housemaids except they were French.

"Are you ready to order, monsieur? Mademoiselle?" the waiter asked.

"Yes, thank you," Athrun replied, "I'll have the chef's salad with the soup of the day. I'll also have your seafood special."

Cagalli paused for a moment before deciding what she wanted.

"Hmm…this looks good. This too. This one's in French, I can't read that. Okay. I want the prime rib queen cut, medium rare."

"Your orders will be with you shortly," the waiter said, after jotting their orders on his PDA.

When the waiter had gone, Cagalli popped the question.

No, not that question.

"Athrun…are you really breaking up with me?"

Athrun stared at her and gaped like a fish. A rather cute fish.

"Where the heck did you get that idea?!"

"You sent me a letter saying that! Dearka even read it out loud!"

"Dearka?! DEARKA? You took him seriously? Did you read the letter to make sure?"

"Yeah, I read as much as I could out of your crap handwriting."

"Excuse me?! Your handwriting isn't exactly calligraphy either," Athrun retorted.

"That's besides the point," Cagalli replied.

"See here, this is what it says," Cagalli said while she pulled out the letter in question, "I just want you to know there is…someone else other than you in my life. I hope you understand that. Meyrin is taking care of me just fine, just so you know, so you don't have to worry about me. I hope you can meet me in front of April Café, for the last time. I'll miss you a lot, now that you're not in my life. Love, Athrun."

Athrun, not remembering what he himself had wrote, said meekly, "At least I put Love, Athrun."

Cagalli looked like she was about to punch his face.

"Look at it for yourself," she said.

Athrun read the letter, and it all came back to him rather quickly.

"No, the two of you read it wrong. Something must be wrong with your eyes. It says 'I ust want to let you know there is NO one else other than you in my life. I hope you understand that. Meyrin is taking care of THINGS just fine, just so you know, so you don't have to worry about me. I hope you can meet me in front of April Café, for the NEXT time. I MISS you a lot, now that you're not in my life RIGHT NOW. Love, Athrun'"

"You see that, it looks like it was scratched off, but it's not," explained Athrun.

"When I squint, it makes more sense," said Cagalli.

"See, it was your fault after all," Athrun said, chuckling.

Not a good move.

Cagalli glared. "Are you laughing at me?"

It is safe to say, Athrun stopped real quick.

"Well," Cagalli said, "at least it's been fixed. But there's one more thing that's not."

"Oh?"

"Dearka."

MEANWHILE….

"What's an eight-letter phrase for someone in trouble?" Dearka asked the waitress who was bringing him his coffee.

"Lemme see…"she said while chewing her gum which had long lost it's flavor. "Dead meat?"

"Dead meat, huh? Thanks."

Dearka chuckled. Why didn't he think of it sooner? He was always dead meat. If the world wasn't as topsy-turvy as it was now, he would be long dead.

He thought of the people who said that to him.

Yzak, definitely Yzak. He was the primary cause of all f Yzak's white hair, if you don't count the hereditary bit.

Nicol too. Dearka remembered the time when Dearka messed with his piano while eating cheesy fries. That was basically the only time anyone had ever seen Nicol explode.

Miriallia, his own girlfriend, tried to kill him once. Besides the Bloody Valentine scene, though. This was because he not-so-accidentally put her blow-dryer in the freezer while it was on, just for kicks.

Athrun, too, was a victim. Dearka had walked in while he and Meyrin were stuck in an accidental, but very provocative position, and Dearka had threatened to rat to Cagalli.

There were a lot more, but Dearka had no time to remember them all. He had coffee and chocolate-y, sprinkle-y doughnuts waiting for him. Besides, the list would be too long if he cared to remember EXACTLY what he did to them.

While he munched on his doughnuts, little did he know that Cagalli and Athun were out for his head right then.

Talk about dead meat.

How did everyone like that? This is the second to the last chapter, so if there's anything you want me to improve, send those reviews! Or, you can just send those reviews because you think the story's awesome. Your choice.


	4. Chapter 4: Dead Meat and Happy Endings

The Messenger

By: Xenos Kadmia

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam SEED, Gundam SEED Destiny, or any of the characters mentioned here.

A/N: Hmm…not as much reviews as the last time, but thanks to those loyal reviewers. I think if I don't ask for them, more people seem to review. Strange.

Dead Meat

How nice, Dearka thought. ORB looked so peaceful, bird twittering in the park, children playing tag, all ye and sundry basking in the sun. What ever sundry meant. Perhaps it was a severe kind of sunburn.

In reality, he thought, someone somewhere was getting bird doo doo all over his head while running to a meeting, which he knew, from experience, could not be good.

Well, what could he do? This was planet Earth, and some things don't change. Birds poo and gravity does its job.

Dearka was strolling along what he thought was a surreal portrait in 3D, when he saw his two best buddies in the whole entire universe.

Cagalli Yula Attha, and Athrun Zala.

He waved at them. It was ironically funny how he couldn't see the look on their faces that said "You shouldn't be waving, you idiot, because you're about to get bust up real bad."

"Dearka. Elsman," Cagalli said.

"Cagalli. Yula. Attha. How. Is. It. Going?" Dearka replied, chuckling. He obviously thought he was being funny.

"This is how it's going."

Then she punched him square in the nose.

He tripped backwards because of the force of the blow and his unawareness. He stepped back and regained his balance.

All of a sudden, when there were stars in his face, and blood rushing to his nose, life didn't seem so unreal anymore.

You could say he was blown out of the fairy tale world real quick.

"Wuzzat for?" he said, holding his nose, which he thought was broken, if not, then severely bruised.

"For giving me the wrong message."

"What message?"

"The letter I gave you," Athrun said, speaking for the first time in this chapter, "you read it wrong."

"It's not my fault your handwriting resembles that of a spasmodic person," Dearka said.

"Well, you could have gone over the letter and asked me what it said before you left, instead of flirting with me."

Dearka blinked.

"That sounded wrong. You need to stop womanizing, Athrun," he said.

"That's not the point!"

"Oh yeah? Not the point? You're telling me that's not the point and the point is that you have sucky handwriting, your girlfriend is cross-eyed, and I'm just the middle guy here, you're missing the point that you could have E-MAILED her in Times New Roman font, size 274, double-spaced, instead of making me have to deal with this kind of crap from incompetent subordinates!!"

Athrun and Cagalli just stood there, totally wowed at Dearka's sudden outburst of eloquent speech and common sense.

At that time, they must've thought that hell was freezing over because Dearka was making sense.

"Gosh, you know what Dearka, I think that was actually a good idea," Athrun said.

"See, that's what happens when people don't listen to me. When they don't, things start going terribly wrong, even when it's not my fault."

"Well, that's because things tend to go wrong whenever you're around," Cagalli said.

"That's true. But they go wrong, but in a way that it goes wrong, but it's still not that bad, and eventually it turns out right. That's what I am, you know, an irresistible lucky charm that works in mysterious ways."

Athrun chuckled.

"You know what, Dearka? Just shut up and let's all get coffee," he said.

"Alright!" Dearka said, punching the air and forgetting his nose was broken, "drinks on me!"

"That's great, then," Cagalli said, smiling.

"But I don't got anymore cash on me. Can I borrow some money, Athrun? I know you're loaded from all the clubs you work at," Dearka said.

Athrun sighed. There were moments when Dearka was actually serious, but those moments came fast. Then they were gone again.

"Alright, drinks on me, then," he conceded, then they all walked off in the direction of a café where Cagalli had a special discount because she was the leader of Orb.

But then again, where else in Orb does she not have a discount?

Later that night, when Dearka had gone back to his hotel, full of caffeine (from all the coffee), sugar (from all the cakes he ate with the coffee) and high-ness (from the effects of both), Cagalli and Athrun walked home together in the chilly night, pressing their bodies close for the body heat.

They took the long way.

"So that letter was your fault," Cagalli said, smiling.

"Yes. Dearka was getting so worked up over it, too," Athrun said, grinning when he remembered the look on his friend's face when he had his little outburst.

"Well, at least there was effort," Cagalli said.

"Yeah, well, too bad though, it didn't work out as I hoped it would."

"That's fine. It's the thought that counts."

"What did you do with my flowers?" Athrun asked.

"Err….I was mad, so I burned them," Cagalli replied hesitantly.

"Well, so much for the thought."

"Hey! You would have been mad too," Cagalli replied defensively.

She gave Athrun a playful shove and for a moment, they forgot about their little misunderstanding.

"I love you, Cagalli. If I ever have to send a letter saying I'll ever have to break up with you, shoot me."

"Lacus said something like that. She said she'll be on you like a ninja in three seconds flat."

"Ohh…" Athrun said contemplatively, "That explains the outfit."

"Yup," she said, then she kissed Athrun on the cheek, "just pray that I won't go to that extent."

"I'll try," he said.

They were outside the door of the Attha mansion, where Cagalli invited Athrun to stay for the night.

No, not in that sense, you little nasties.

In front of the door, Athrun held Cagalli's arms, then brought her closer to him. He held her tightly, as if trying to compensate for the lost time. As if to hold her for all eternity.

Cagalli got tense. She got so immersed in her work sometimes, that she forgot what it was like to be in Athrun's arms, to inhale his scent, to feel him close to her. It was a good feeling.

Athrun leaned in closer, weaving his arms around to her back, where they rested in the curve of her waist.

Their lips met, and they closed their eyes in pure ecstasy. The night ended well, and these two star-crossed lovers were together again.

That's it! The end. They all ended up happy. Writing this story was nice while it lasted. I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did.

Xenos Kadmia


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